Razor blade gauge and method



y 5, 1953 A. WIEBE 2,637,116

RAZOR BLADE GAUGE AND METHOD Filed April 16, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 IN VEN T0 x we a Q I W w, Z? Max IffORIVEy May 5, 1953 A. WIEBE RAZOR BLADE GAUGE AND METHOD 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed April 16. 1945 Patented May 5, 1953 UNITED STATES TENT ' ()FFICE (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952),

see. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to the gauging of razor blades such as are commonly used in safety razors, and has for its primary object to provide a multiple gauge for measuring the length and width of the longitudinal slot common to all such blades, and for measuring the half widths of the blades, i. e. the width from the center line of the slot to the cutting edges thereof.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a semi-automatic mechanism for accomplishing the foregoing ends, and one which requires only the placing of the blade on the anvil and the depression of a lever to activate the several gauging elements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent. from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 an elevational view of the complete mechanism, ith parts broken away to disclose certain details.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the mechanism with one of the gauges removed, and showing the operatio lever in two different positions, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view, partly in section, showing the anvil and related parts. 7

Referring to the drawings in more detail and particularly to Figure l, the numeral i indicates the base plate or support for the mechanism and which may be provided with t if desired. A vertically disposed instrument panel 3 is secured adjacent tl rear portion of the base member I and is pre rably provided with side Wings 1% which may be secured to the panel 3 in any desired manner.

Secured to the front face of the panel 3 and spaced slightly above the base i is a metal block which be termed an anvil inasmuch as it forms a sup-port for the blade being operated upon tested by the gauging components to be later described. upper surface of the anvil is provided with serrations ii so as to facilitate the removal of blades from the upper surface of anvil. after they have been tested.

Moi d for vertical sliding movement on the anvil ii is an inverted U-shaped member or saddle 'i. The. downwardly extending legs ii of this saddie member are slidably mounted in vertically extending grooves 9 formed in the sides of the 2 anvil, and it. should be noted that these cooperating parts are accurately machined so as to provide the necessary precision of movement and position of the parts.

The outer sides of the legs 8 are provided with upwardly and inwardly inclined guideways ill and the sides of the anvil are provided with Vertically extending slots ll, each for a purpose which will be described hereinafter.

The saddle "E is intended to be raised and lowered through the mediumv of a hand lever or pedal i2 which is pivotally mounted at the rear of the base plate i as by means of brackets I3, and extends forwardly below the anvil 5. The lower ends of the legs 53 of the saddle extend slightly below the lever l2 and a bolt it extends through apertures in these legs and engages the under surface of the lever. A tension spring It has its upper end secured in a cavity within the anvil 5 and the lower end of the spring extends through an opening in the lever l2 and is engaged about the bolt 83'. By reason of this construction it. will be apparent that the spring It tends to draw the saddle l upwardly and with it the lever i2 until. the latter contacts the lower edge or bottom of the anvil.

The upper surface of the anvil 5 is provided with. a slot it in which are mounted two control bars to and I7, the former serving as a gauge for the Width of a razor blade slot and the latter serving as a stop to properly position the blade with. respect to the gauge bar i i and a gauge pin to be later described. These gauge bars it and ii may be removably secured within the slot 15 by means of set screws i8.

The width or thickness of the bar H5 is such as to permit a blade having a slot of the minimum acceptable width to pass thereover, and the distance between the right-hand end of the bar it (as seen in Figure 2) and the forward end of the stop bar ii is such that a razor blade having a slot of minimum acceptable length may be passed over the bar it when an end of the blade is in contact with the inner end of the stopbar ll.

For the purpose of gauging the width of the slot, or that is, the control lugs of a conventional razor blade, and the half widths of a blade, a plurality of gauges of the contact-pin type are employed, two for gauging the half widths of the blades and one for gauging the space between the contact lugs. These gauges are preferably of the dial-indicator type and should have dial graduations of about .005", and should indicate plus and minus .025" readings. This type of gauge is well known in the art, and one such gauge on the 3 market is designated Federal Dial Indicator Model D-71.

The indicator for gauging the distance between the control lugs of a razor blade is designated by the numeral 20, and the indicators for gauging the half widths of the blades are designated by the numerals 2| and 22. The contact pin of the auge 20 is indicated by the numeral 23 and is provided with a stop nut or the like 23' intended to cooperate with bosses 24 and 25 on the indicator casing 20 and saddle I, respectively. The pin 23 is provided with a sharpened point or taper 26 at its lower end which is adapted to pass into the space between the control lugs of a razor blade positioned on the anvil. The angle between the center line of the pin and the tapered wall, in the present instance, is 26 30 and 30" and it will be understood therefore that the indicator will register .001" of slot width for each .001" of downward movement of the pin 23. When the pin is positioned between the control lugs of a blade being tested, the parts are so adjusted that if the space is of standard width the pointer will indicate on the dial, and if it is within a minimum of .079" and a maximum of .085" the needle or pointer will be brought to a position within the angularly arranged markers 21.

The gauges or indicators 2| and 22 for gauging the half widths of the blades are substantially identical and a description of one of them will suflice. The contact pin 28 of each of these gauges is of course provided with a spring for biasing it away from the casing, as is also the pin 23 of the gauge 20. Each of the pins 28 is provided with a shoulder or boss 29 which is maintained in contact with the inclined guideways In of the saddle I, and when the saddle is in its upper or non-operating position all of the needles or pointers will assume a position at about +15 on the dial. depressed and the saddle I drawn downwardly, the tapered guideways II! will allow the pins 28 to move inwardly into the slots I I until they contact the cutting edges of the blade which has been placed on the anvil. After the pins are forced inwardly by their respective springs, or downwardly in the case of pin 23, the dial pointers will be moved in a clockwise direction in accordance with the several dimensions. If the half widths of the blade and the width of the 4 slot are of absolute standard dimensions then the pointers should register with the 0 indication on each of the dials. But if the dimensions are not absolutely standard but are within allowable tolerances, the pointers will swing to the plus or minus side of the 0 indication but within the angle defined by the markers 2! which indicate the limit of tolerances on the dials.

The operation of the various parts of the mechanism has been described in connection with the description of the structural details. It may be pointed out briefly, however, that the blade to be tested is first placed over the control bar l6 if the slot is sufficiently Wide, otherwise the blade is rejected at the very initiation of the test. Assuming that the blade slot is of sufficient width to pass over control bar IE, it is placed on the anvil with its extreme inner end in engagement with the end of stop bar I1 provided the length of the slot is not less than standard; if it is less than standard the blade is of course rejected due to the fact that it will not slide down over the control bar. If the blade passes the two tests just referred to, it will lie flat upon the face of the anvil and be immovably positioned there- When the lever 12 is on by the control bar. The lever I2 is now depressed by the operator and the blade is clamped in its position on the anvil by the engagement of the tapered point 26 with the control lugs of the razor blade, and as hereinbefore stated, this movement of the pin 23 and the saddle 1 causes the gauges 2| and 22 to be brought into operation so as to measure the half widths on the blades simultaneously with the measurement of the width of the slot by the pin 23.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have devised an exceedingly simple yet highly accurate gauge for rapidly testing razor blades, and that the construction is such that the operation is almost entirely automatic, it being necessary only that the operator place the blade over the control bar It, depress the lever I2, and then glance at the dials of the three gauges to determine whether or not the pointers are within the limits defined by the spaced markers 2'I2'I; if all three of the pointers are within these limits the blade is acceptable, if one or more of them are outside of the angle defined by the marker 21, then one or more of the dimensions of the blade are not within the allowable tolerances and the blade is rejectable.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described what I now consider to be the preferred form of construction, but obviously minor changes may be made in the structural details without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A measuring device for slotted safety razor blades provided with spaced control lugs, including a support for a blade, three gauges of the contact-pin type, one of said gauges being mounted above the support for vertically reciprocable movement and having the lower end of its pin provided with a predetermined taper, the other two gauges being positioned at opposite sides of the support, and reciprocably mounted means for first clamping the blade on the support by bringing the tapered portion of the pin into contact with the control lugs and then bringing the other gauges into operative position with respect to the blade edges.

2. A measuring device for two-edge safety razor blades, including an anvil, an inverted U-shaped saddle mounted for vertical sliding movement on the anvil, a pair of opposed contact-pin type gauges mounted adjacent the anvil, means on the saddle for positioning a razor blade on the anvil, and mutually cooperating cam means on the saddie and pins for controlling the movements of the pins toward and away from said blade as the saddle is reciprocated.

3. A measuring device for two-edge safety razor blades, including an anvil, an inverted U-shaped saddle mounted for vertical sliding movement on the anvil, the legs of the saddle being provided with vertical slots and downwardly tapered guideways, a pair of contact-pin type gauges, said gauges being mounted with their pins extending into the slots and having portions engaging the guideways for controlling the movements of the pins toward and away from the blade, means on the saddle for positioning a razor blade on the anvil, and means for reciprocating the saddle.

4. A measuring device for slotted safety razor blades, comprising an anvil adapted to receive a 5 blade, a tolerance bar and a stop bar on the anvil adapted to reject a blade having a slot of less than minimum length or Width and to center and hold a blade provided with a slot having the correct length and width, a vertically slidable member mounted on the anvil, a gauge having a pin provided with a predetermined taper mounted on the slidable member, opposed contact-pin type gauges mounted on opposite sides of the anvil, and means associated with the slida'ble member for causing the tapered pin to enter the slot of a blade centered on the anvil and the opposed pins to engage the cutting edges thereof after the tapered pin has contacted the sides of the slot.

ALBERT WIEBE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 940,938 Morton Nov. 23, 1909 1,078,649 Williams Nov. 18, 1913 1,317,459 Rounet Sept. 20, 1919 Number 20 Number 6 Name Date Rounet Oct. 21, 1919 Benait Feb. 20, 1923 Harter Mar. 30, 1926 Tangring Nov. 1, 1927 Henley May 15, 1928 Stauder July 14, 1931 Hoke June 7, 1932 Padgett Apr. 2, 1935 Brittain Feb. 11, 1936 Bauer July 27, 1943 Roger Aug, 22, 1944 Bjorklund Apr. 3, 1945 Wright Mar. 11, 1947 Aller Nov. 18, 1947 Wiseman Nov. 18, 1947 Davis Jan. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date England Sept. 11, 1922 Italy Jan. 23, 1936 

